Buoy or beacon



(No Model.) 4 Sheets-Sheet 1.

J. POSTER. I

v BUOY AND BEACON.

No. 355,157. Patented Dec.- 28, 1886.

N4 PETERS. mwmm m w, Washington, ac,

4 Sheets-Shed; 2.

(No Model.)

J. M. FOSTER.

BUOY AND BEACON.

Patented Dec. 28, 1886.

lhvnor Jdhm JVL Faaer N. PETERS PhnmLilhognphqr. Wishingtan. D. C.

4 Shets-Sheet 3. I

( No Model.)

J. M, FOSTER.

I BUOY AND BEACON.

Patented Deb. 28, 1886.

Inventor: John flflFqsa- '54/ e/Zitor .yyww

N4 PETERS, PhotoUlMgr-iphur. Wnshingion, u. c.

(No Model.) Y .4 Sheets-Sheet 4.

J. M. FOSTER.

BUOY ANDBBAGONL No. 355,157. Patented Dec. 28,1886.

. a n 1 m a, 5 m y m Z a a n w w n w v a P 5 a M a m. M m j F m m m J \i: M

J l/// K s 2 UNITED STATES PATENT Erica.

JOHN M. rosrna, or PHILADELPHIA, PENNsYLv ivrA.

BUOY on BEACON.

SPECIFICA'IION forming part of Letters Patent: No. 355,157, dated December 28, 1886,

Application filed September 28,1885. Serial No. 178,475. 1N0 model.)

To all whom/it may concern.-

Be it known that 1, JOHN M. Fosrme, a citizenof the United States, residing in Philadelto insure an adequate and uniform supply of oil to the burner as long as there is any oil in the reservoir.

Figure 1 is a vertical section, partly in elevation, of a buoy constructed in accordance with my invention; Fig. 2, a sectional view, partly in elevation and on a larger scale, of

the lantern which 'forms part of the buoy,

Fig. 3, a sectional plan,partly in elevation,on theline l 2, Fig. 2; Fig. 4, aseetional plan on the line 3 4, Fig. 2; Fig. 5, an enlarged section of the regulating device of the burner; Fig. 6, a plan view of the same, partly in section; and Figs. 7, 8, and 9 views illustrating modifications of the invention.

Lighted beacons or buoys are now extensively used, the ordinary method of lighting such buoys or beacons being to store illuminatinggas under heavy pressure in a chamber or reservoir forming part of the buoy or beacon, this gas supplying the burner in the lantern which surmounts the same. The main objection to a buoy of this character is that it necessitates the maintenance of an expensive gas-making plant on-the tender having charge of the buoy, or else the gas must be manufactured on shore and stored under pressure in reservoirs to be carried to the buoy by the tender. It has been proposed to overcome these objections by utilizing the motion of the waves to cause a current of air to pass through the hydrocarbon, and thus become carbureted, so as to provide a gas for-the burner, and it has also been proposed to use a vapor-burner to which oil was supplied from a reservoir in the buoy, a regulated air-pressure being relied upon to raise the oil to the burner. Both of these devices,.however, are irregular and uncertain in their action, and are therefore obj ectionable.

In carrying out my invention I construct an oil-lighted buoy or beacon in the manner which I will now proceed to describe.

In Fig. 1, A represents the body of a buoy which, in the present instance, is in the form of the usual can-buoy,having upper and'lower water-tight compartments, although it should be understood that the construction of the body of the buoyforms no part of my invention and may be modified in, any manner which circumstances may suggest. Forming part of the buoy is avessel, B, which, in the present instance, is in the form of a cylinder, and projects downward below the body. The shape and character of this vessel may'also be modified,however,without departing from the essential feature of my invention. Communicating with the vessel B are two pipes,a b,both of these pipes extending above the body of the buoy, and the pipe a being furnished with a suitable stop or check valve,d, while the pipe bexten'ds up into a lantern,D,supported above the body of the buoy upon suitable stanchions e.

The pipe or preferably terminates a short distance below the top of the vessel B, but the pipe b extends almost to the bottom of said vessel, so that all that is necessary in orderto charge the buoy is to pump the oil into the vessel B through the pipe a, the oil rising in said vessel and compressing the air in the upper portion of the same, this compressed air acting upon the volume of oil in the vessel and tending to force said oil up through the pipe b to the lantern. An ordinary pump on the craft,serving as a buoy-tender,is therefore sufficient to effect theproper charging of the buoy, the oil being pumped directly from the barrel or other reservoir into the vessel B,and being stored therein under pressure by the compression of the air in the upper portion of said vessel.

In the lantern D, I use a vapor-burner of any desired construction, that preferred being one in which the supply-pipe has at the top a casing with needle-pointed valve for regulating the discharge of the oil or vapor, the escaping flame striking a curved spreader-plate, which becomes intensely heated and serves to properly vaporize the oil as it rises through the supply-tube to the valve-casing. Thepressure'maint'ained in the vessel l3, however, is

ter. The pipe b communicates with a chamf, in the lower portion of a casing, G, in

which is an upper chamber, 9, separated from the chamber f by a partition, h, and to a valveseat, 1', carried by the latter, is adapted a valve, m, hung by means of links to arms a on a rock-shaft, H, adapted to hearings in the easing'G. The upper chamber, 9, of the casing G communicates throughapipe, p, witha vessel, J, in which is a float, K, havingaguided stem, 8, the upper end of which has a slotted yoke, s, for the reception of a pin, t, at the outer end of an arm, M, which is secured to the rock-shaft H. The vessel J communicates through a pipe, w, with the burner F, so that the pressure of oil at the latter is dependent upon the level of the oil in said vessel J, and

this is governed by the float K, the rise of which causes such an operation of the rock-shaft H as will close the valve m and cut oi the flow of 'oil into the vessel J until the level therein is lowered and the float K falls sufliciently to again open the valve. It will be evident, therefore, that by properly constructing the valve'and float, an y desired level of oil and any desired pressure at the burner can be readily maintained irrespective of the pressure in the vessel B.

The pipes b and w are provided with suitable stop-valves, w, and the vessel J has a dripcock, as, so that the contents of said vesselmay be drawn olf if occasion requires.

, The lantern is provided with perforated partitions and deflectors in the same manner as the lantern of the Foster gas-lighted buoy,

.so as to permit the ready access ofjair to the lantern and the ready escape of the products of combustion therefrom, without permitting the access of water or spray to the burnerchamber of the lantern in. a rough sea.

Although, as before remarked, the vessel B may be constructed in any suitable manner and disposed in any desired relation to the body of the buoy, I prefer to construct it in the form of a projecting cylinder,-as shown, in order that the weight of oil contained in it may aid in ballasting the. buoy and tend to maintain it in a vertical position.

It should be understood that the buoy is anchored in the usual manner, the anchorchain being connected by a shackle to a loop or other attachment on the buoy. (See dotted lines, Fig. 1.)

Although I prefer to use a regulating-valve operated by a float in the manner shown in the drawings, this is not absolutely necessary to the proper carrying out of my invention. For instance, in Fig. 7 I have shown a burner, F, combined with a feed-vessel, J, below the burner, this feed-vessel communicating directly with the upper end of the pipe b, and the communication being controlled by a valve which is acted upon by a diaphragm, K, contained in the feed-vessel, the pressure of oil in the latter tending to raise this diaphragm and close the valve, while a spring above the diaphragm tends to depress the same and open the valve. In this case the pressure of oil in the feed-vessel is dependent upon the stifi'ness of the spring, for as soon as the pressure of the oil is greater than the pressure of the spring the diaphragm is forced upward and the valve is closed, so as to prevent the entrance of a further supply of oil into the feedvessel.

The use of a vapor-burner is not absolutely necessary in carrying out my invention, as in place of the same I may use an ordinary oil-lamp having an asbestus or other indestructible wick, so that it will not require frequent attention for trimming. In this case I should prefer to use a float in the fountain or reservoir of the lamp, this float controlling a valve in the supply-pipe, so as to prevent the rise of the oil in the fount above a certain de- I sired lever. (See Fig. 8.)

The use of separate inlet and outlet pipes a and b can be dispensed with by providing scribed, connected to said valve and contained in the feed-vessel and acted upon by the oil therein, whereby the supply of oil to the feedvessel is automatically regulated, all substantially as specified.

2. The combination, in a buoy or beacon, of the body having a hermetically-closed oil-res ervoir, a valved supply-pipe therefor, a vaporburner surmounting said body, a feed-vessel above said burner, pipes through which oil can pass from the reservoir to said feed-vessel and from the latter to the burner, a valve controlling the flow from the reservoir to the feedvessel, and a float contained in the feed-vessel and connected to said controlling-valve, all substantially as specified.

3. The combination, in a buoy or beacon, of the body having a hermeticallyclosed oil-reservoir, a vapor-burner surmounting said body, a feed-vessel above-said burner, a float contained in said vessel, a casing, G, having two chambers, a valve controlling the passage between said chanibers, a pipe forming a communication between one of said chambers and the reservoir, a pipe forming a communication between the other chamber and the feed-vessel, and a rock-shaft having arms connected to thevalve and float, all substantially asspecified.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses. 7

JOHN M. FOSTER. Witnesses:

WILLIAM F. DAVIS, HARRY SMITH. 

